"Time Trail,
West Virginia"
March 1998 Programs

March 2, 1896: Birth of
basketball coach Clair Bee

The game of modern basketball owes much to coaching legend Clair
Bee, who was born at Pennsboro in Ritchie County on March 2, 1896.
The game was still in its infancy when Bee played for the Grafton
YMCA team. One of his opponents was Clarksburg's Bristol High
School, coached by basketball innovator Cam Henderson, who later
gained national prominence at Marshall College.

Like Henderson, Bee took coaching to new levels, introducing
high-scoring strategies at a time when most games rarely exceeded
30 points. In 3 seasons at Rider
College and 20 at Long Island
University, Bee won 82 percent of his games, the highest
winning percentage of any coach in college basketball history.

Bee's Long Island team won two national championships and might
have won a third had it not been for a first-round upset in the
1942 National Invitational Tournament to West Virginia University,
which went on to garner its only national title. Bee resigned in
1951 after three of his players were implicated in a scheme to fix
games.

Bee left coaching but he didn't leave sports. In retirement, Bee
became a popular author, using his own experiences in Grafton as
the basis of 24 fictional books for young readers about high school
athlete Chip Hilton. The books inspired such basketball notables as
Bobby Knight, who invited Bee to conduct clinics for his teams at
West Point and Indiana. But his daughter, Cindy Farley, notes Bee
was an inspiration off the court as well.

Cindy Farley: And it was true that there were a lot of
neat people that came to our house and I had opportunities to meet
a lot of neat people. But basically, what I remember about my dad
was that he was very warm, very lovable, very demanding of himself
and others. The force of his personality was . . . he was really a
dynamic person. Everyone loved him.

In 1967, Bee was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He
died in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1983. Today, the college coach of the
year is honored with the Clair Bee Award and the Chip Hilton Award
is given to the nation's best player.

March 3, 1870: Founding of the WV
Schools for the Deaf and the Blind

West Virginia's deaf and blind children have been educated at
special schools set up for them in the Hampshire County town of
Romney
since just after the Civil War. Prior to 1870, the state paid to
educate blind and deaf children at special schools in other
states.

It was Howard Johnson, a Pendleton County teacher for the blind,
who successfully convinced the legislature that West Virginia
needed a school for the blind. On March 3, 1870, the legislature
approved the creation of a school for the blind and a school for
the deaf.

The state considered sites in Parkersburg, Wheeling, and
Clarksburg before selecting Romney, whose
townspeople had offered a building and 20 acres of land. The
schools were opened in September 1870 with 16 students. But within
just a few weeks enrollment had increased to 30 students.

The Deaf and Blind Schools in Romney, like most
public schools of the day, excluded African-American students. To
receive an education, black deaf and blind children were sent to a
school in Maryland. Their tuition was paid with money from the
budget of the Romney schools. But
in 1926, the West Virginia Colored Deaf and Blind School was opened
in Institute in Kanawha County.

Three African-American legislators -- T. G. Nutter, Henry Capehart, and T. J.
Coleman -- pushed for the creation of the school in 1919. But the
legislature failed to appropriate funding for seven years.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of
Education decision in 1954, the school at Institute was closed
and black deaf and blind students were sent to the Romney schools.
Today, the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
continue to offer traditional elementary and secondary courses as
well as specialized classes.

March 4, 1889: Disputed election
results in the inauguration of 3 governors

The race for governor in 1888 produced the strangest
inauguration day in West Virginia history. It was a day in which
three would-be governors attempted to succeeded incumbent E. Willis Wilson. It would be nearly a year
before one of them would be allowed to assume the governor's
duties.

The 1888 election pitted Democrat A.
B. Fleming against Republican Nathan Goff. Initially, it looked
as though Fleming lost the election by only 106 votes. Fleming
protested, claiming 2,000 fraudulent votes had been cast, mostly by
blacks in southern West Virginia.

While the legislature was considering the issue, Governor
Wilson's term ended. Since the legislature hadn't chosen a winner,
both Fleming and Goff claimed to be the lawful governor. State
senator Robert Carr entered the fray, declaring his constitutional
right as senate president to assume the governor's duties. On
inauguration day, March 4, 1889, in separate ceremonies, Fleming,
Goff, and Carr were all sworn in as West Virginia's eighth
governor. Meanwhile, Governor Wilson announced his intention to
remain in office until the legislature determined an official
winner. Nine days later, the West Virginia Supreme Court sided with
Wilson, ruling he should continue as governor until the
controversial election could be settled legally.

Wilson served until early February 1890, when the legislature
narrowly chose A. B. Fleming as his successor. Fleming presided
over an administration shortened almost a year by the controversy.
Republican legislators, bitter over the ordeal, thwarted most of
Governor Fleming's measures. One of the few accomplishments of his
administration was the adoption of a uniform ballot to discourage
election fraud.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, election results were often
disputed. Today, few elections are challenged.

What are the requirements to register to vote in West Virginia
(e.g., age, place of residence)?

How does one register to vote in West Virginia? Where does a
person go?

What safeguards exist to prevent election fraud? Are there any
weaknesses in the system? Cite examples of past local and state
election fraud.

March 5, 1900: Opening of the WV
Normal & Industrial School for Colored Orphans

In 1899, the West Virginia Legislature authorized the state's
humane society to operate a publicly funded orphanage in Elkins.
Better known today for its work with neglected animals, the
society's original mission included caring for orphaned children
and the elderly. The home in Elkins took in many of West Virginia's
homeless or neglected children, but black children were
excluded.

On March 5, 1900, the Rev. Charles McGhee opened the West
Virginia Normal & Industrial School for Colored Orphans on his
Cabell County farm. Three years later, the school, which came to be
known as the West Virginia Colored Children's Home, moved to a
190-acre site overlooking the Guyandotte River near Huntington.

By law, states were required to maintain "separate but equal"
public institutions for African Americans. However, West Virginia
dragged its feet when it came to establishing facilities for
blacks. African-American institutions, such as a hospital for the
mentally ill, a school for the deaf and blind, a tuberculosis
sanitarium, and industrial schools for girls and boys, were not
funded until well after similar facilities for whites.

The West Virginia Colored Children's Home and the state's other
black institutions closed their doors after the U.S. Supreme Court
ruled segregation in public schools unconstitutional in 1954.

March 6, 1900: Red Ash coal mine
disaster

Many of West Virginia's major coal mine disasters can be traced
to a deadly build up of methane gas. Improperly ventilated mines
run the danger of trapping methane which often leads to
explosions.

On the morning of March 6, 1900, a gas explosion tore through
the Red Ash mine near the Fayette County town of Thurmond. In gas
explosions, fire is the most common cause of injuries and deaths.
However, the Red Ash explosion was so violent that 46 miners were killed by the shear force of the blast. Three others were badly
injured. Coal cars inside the mine were piled up at the mine's
mouth. The blast left 24 children fatherless.

Lack of safety regulations around the turn of the century made
coal mining one of the most dangerous occupations. In 1900 alone,
150 miners died in West Virginia's mines. In addition to Red Ash,
major explosions occurred at Berryburg in Barbour County and
Farmington in Marion County.

In 1905, a second disaster forced the closing of the Red Ash
mines and the community disappeared. Red Ash was one of many once
thriving New River Gorge coal towns which quickly vanished. Today,
remnants of these mines and communities can be seen by whitewater
rafters as they paddle down the New River.

For more information:

Dillon, Lacy A. They Died in the Darkness. Parsons: McClain
Printing, 1976.

Dillon, Lacy A. They Died for King Coal. Winona, MN:
Apollo Books, 1985.

For Discussion:

There were numerous coal mine disasters in the early 1900s due to a
lack of safety practices. Even though some laws existed to protect
miners, they were poorly enforced.

Develop a timeline of West Virginia's major coal mine
disasters.

Develop a timeline of state and federal regulations to ensure
mine safety.

Based on these timelines, do regulations have an impact on the
number and severity of mine disasters.

March 9, 1990: Honoring Medal of
Honor recipient Cornelius Charlton

On March 9, 1990, a memorial service was held for one of West
Virginia's most honored war heroes. Thirty-nine years after his
death in Korea, the body of Sgt. Cornelius Charlton was removed
from a family cemetery in Mercer County and reinterred in the
American Legion Cemetery in Beckley, close to his East Gulf
birthplace. Most highly decorated veterans earn the right to be
buried in Arlington National Cemetery. But the government had
refused Charlton a hero's burial in 1951 because he was black.

Charlton was living in the Bronx, New York when he enlisted.
Originally assigned to a desk job, Charlton volunteered for combat
duty with Company C of the 24th Infantry Regiment of the 25thArmy
Infantry Division. On June 2, 1951, Charlton's platoon commander
was wounded and evacuated from the field. Charlton took command of
the unit's assault against Hill 543, knocked out two enemy
positions, and killed six. Even though he had suffered a serious
chest wound, Charlton led a third charge to capture the hill.
Without regard for his own safety, he personally attacked the last
enemy position on the other side of the hill. Fatally wounded by a
grenade, Charlton struggled onward and singlehandedly took out the
enemy.

The government posthumously awarded Charlton the Purple Heart
and the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest accolade for military
valor. Yet, he was barred from the hallowed ground of this
country's oldest national cemetery. His family laid the 21-year-old
war hero to rest in a small family cemetery on the state line near
Pocahontas, Virginia. After the caretaker's death, the cemetery was
neglected and Charlton's grave was forgotten by many. In 1989, the
national Medal of Honor Society launched a two-year campaign to
locate the lost graves of heroes and Charlton's grave was
rediscovered. Cornelius Charlton finally received a burial
befitting a soldier who had sacrificed his life for his
country.

However, Charlton's deeds had not been totally forgotten. A tree
in the Bronx was dedicated to his memory and his native state named
one of the first bridges on the West Virginia Turnpike in his
honor. The 1,334-foot-long bridge over the Bluestone Gorge in
Mercer County still bears the name Charlton Memorial Bridge.

March 10, 1920: Women's
suffrage

The national women's suffrage movement is usually traced back to
1848, when suffragists held a convention at Seneca Falls, New York.
Historians date West Virginia's suffrage movement to 1895 and the
formation of the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association in
Grafton. The West Virginia association combined nine smaller clubs
into a statewide organization.

Suffrage organizations weren't the only groups campaigning for a
woman's right to vote. The Women's
Christian Temperance Union's main purpose was to lobby against
the sale and consumption of alcohol, which it considered to be the
source of many domestic problems. Its members believed women would
elect more virtuous public officials, who would vote to ban the
sale of alcohol.

Suffragists pressured the West Virginia Legislature into taking
the issue to the people. The state's male electorate decisively
rejected a proposed amendment to the state constitution in November
1916. After World War I, women nationwide pushed for a suffrage
amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 19th Amendment was sent to
the states for consideration.

In February 1920, the West Virginia Legislature met in special
session. Lawmakers were lobbied heavily by the state's suffragists,
led by Marion County native Lenna Lowe
Yost, a past president of the state W.C.T.U. The House of
Delegates first passed the amendment. Then, on March 10, by a vote
of 15 to 14, the state Senate made West Virginia the 34th of the 36
states needed to ratify the amendment.

The 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920 and women cast
their first votes in national elections that November.

Many states allowed women to vote in state and local elections
prior to 1920. However, West Virginia rejected such a proposal in
1916.

What prevailing attitudes made it difficult for women to gain
the right to vote?

Why is the right to vote important?

What did women hope to gain?

Today, what individuals in the United States do not have voting
privileges?

March 11, 1881: Use of state
militia to put down Hawks Nest coal strike

Violent confrontation is no stranger to West Virginia's mining
industry. On many occasions, the state activated its militia to
restore order and put down strikes. The state militia was first
mobilized to quell labor unrest during the national railroad
strike, which began at Martinsburg in 1877. Three years later,
troops were sent to Fayette County to end a strike against the
Hawks Nest Coal Company.

The strike had spread from the Kanawha Valley, where miners had
staged a work stoppage for better wages. Ironically, it was Kanawha
Valley coal operators, not miners, who wanted to carry the strike
into Fayette County. They felt the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway
provided an unfair advantage to Fayette County coal operators,
drawing business away from the Kanawha Valley. By disrupting work
at the competing Fayette mines, the Kanawha operators hoped to
persuade the C&O to furnish more rail cars to haul their own
coal.

State militia troops were mobilized from Charleston and
Lewisburg by Governor Henry Mathews,
who feared violence would erupt as it had in Martinsburg.
Ultimately, 25 miners were arrested by the Fayette County sheriff
and charged with intimidation and unlawful interference. A year
after the troubles ended, on March 11, 1881, the West Virginia
Legislature appropriated more than $1,300 to pay the troops for
their service during the Hawks Nest strike. It was the first time
the legislature authorized payment for troops to put down labor
unrest and it wouldn't be the last. On several occasions in 1912
and 1913, Governor William Glasscock
declared martial law and dispatched the militia to the Paint Creek
and Cabin Creek strike area in Kanawha County.

During World War I, the militia was called into national service
and was no longer available to the state. In its absence, the
legislature established the state police in 1919 to quash conflict
associated with the mine wars in southern West Virginia.

March 12, 1850: Incorporation of
Wheeling Hospital

The Wheeling-Ohio County Hospital has continuously served West
Virginia's northern panhandle, at one site or another, since 1850.
Wheeling Hospital was incorporated March 12 that year. Wheeling
historian Margaret Brennan says it was founded during a boom period
for Wheeling.

Brennan: And because Wheeling was the most important
city in western Virginia in the 1850s, it attracted early on a lot
of prominent men who were well educated in their time in the
medical profession.

Brennan says Wheeling city councilman Simon Houlihan originally
tried to get the city to establish the hospital. But when the city
refused, he collaborated with the Catholic Church.

Brennan: And they decided to incorporate the first
hospital in the state of West Virginia -- of course, it wasn't a
state at that time -- but it is today the oldest hospital in the
state.

During the Civil War, the nuns who worked at Wheeling Hospital
provided care for wounded soldiers. Brennan says at one point over
200 casualties arrived in one day.

Brennan: Overwhelming -- they had them in the
courtyard, they had them in the halls, the sisters had to actually
get out of their beds and sleep on the floors in a little chapel
area so that the men could have the cots.

The Civil War soldiers were treated at a north Wheeling mansion
which the hospital had acquired in 1856. The hospital also
established the first orphanage in present-day West Virginia in
1856 and the first school of nursing in 1895. In 1975, the hospital
moved to a site outside city limits which was soon damaged by a
flood. The hospital buildings used prior to 1975 have been torn
down. The hospital plans to create a historic site on the spot.

For Discussion:

Western Virginia's earliest social services were often provided by
local churches.

Name some social services in your community.

Why did the churches provide these services?

Who provides these services today? How has it changed and
why?

What funding sources are there for social services?

What services do churches provide today?

March 13, 1948: West Virginia
State College wins the national black basketball
championship

Several college basketball powerhouses emerged from West
Virginia in the 1940s. West Virginia University won a national
title in 1942 and Cam Henderson's Marshall College team captured the
National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament in 1947. The
following year, it was West Virginia State College's turn.

Long considered one of the nation's finest academic black
colleges, State dominated athletics as well. All but one of its
opponents were out-of-state schools. Despite the rigors of
prolonged road trips, Coach Mark Cardwell's '47-'48 team won all 20
regular season games heading into the national Colored
Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament in Washington. The
Yellow Jackets annihilated Johnson C. Smith College in the opening
round by 34 points. In the second round, they won a narrow victory
over North Carolina College, setting up the championship match
against Howard University on March 13. In a close, low-scoring
game, State took the lead with 9 minutes remaining and never
relinquished it, winning 42 to 31. In 1949, the Yellow Jackets
successfully defended their title, defeating North Carolina to win
back-to-back national championships.

They were led both seasons by Clarence "Bumpy" Clark, Joe
Gilliam, Bob Wilson, and 6-foot-7 Earl Lloyd. Two years later,
Lloyd became the first African American to play in a National
Basketball Association game, when he debuted with the Washington
Capitals on October 31, 1950. Lloyd wasn't the only pathbreaker.
Several other blacks were drafted the same year as Lloyd, including
State teammate Bob Wilson. However, since the Washington Capitals'
season began first, Lloyd is credited with breaking the NBA's color
barrier.

Early in his rookie season, the Korean War began and Lloyd was
drafted into the Army. He returned to the NBA and played eight
seasons with the Syracuse Nationals and Detroit Pistons. In 1960,
Lloyd was named an assistant with the Pistons, becoming the NBA's
first black coach.

West Virginia State was integrated 6 years after its first
national championship and joined the West Virginia Intercollegiate
Athletic Conference, comprised of historically white colleges.
State made it to a national championship game again in 1987, but
lost in the finals of the NAIA Tournament for small colleges.

March 16, 1838: Construction of
the Staunton & Parkersburg Turnpike

In the early 1800s, poor transportation routes isolated western
Virginia from lucrative eastern markets. Beginning with President
George
Washington, the federal government supported internal
improvements as a way to connect the young nation. The earliest
attempt to link present- day West Virginia with the East was the
construction of the National Road, completed to Wheeling in 1818.
However, by the mid-1820s, the federal government had lost interest
in funding such projects.

Spurred by the success of the National Road, the state of
Virginia invested $100,000 to build the James River and Kanawha
Turnpike through the southern part of the state. Another venture,
the Northwestern Turnpike, linked Parkersburg with Clarksburg,
Grafton, Romney, and Winchester. The last major effort to connect
eastern and western Virginia was the Staunton and Parkersburg
Turnpike.

The Staunton and Parkersburg engineers faced the daunting task
of carving a road across the rugged peaks of Pocahontas County and
traverse the numerous waterways of northwestern Virginia. Planning
and surveying began in 1823 but the counties of Wood, Lewis,
Randolph, Pocahontas, and Pendleton struggled to raise their share
of construction costs. Work finally began on March 16, 1838.
Because the region was sparsely populated at the time, European
immigrants, particularly Irish laborers, poured into what is now
central West Virginia to work on the road. Among the young laborers
on this turnpike was a 13-year-old Thomas Jackson, who became known
to the world as "Stonewall" during the Civil War.

The completion of the road in 1847 promoted the growth of towns
such as Monterey, Beverly, Buckhannon, and Weston. Control of the
turnpike was a key objective for both sides during the Civil War,
leading to one of the war's first engagements, the Battle of Rich
Mountain near Beverly. The federal army's victory at Rich Mountain
and command of the turnpike ensured northwestern Virginia would
remain in Union hands, an important factor in West Virginia's
statehood.

West Virginia's early turnpikes became the framework for the
National Highway System in West Virginia. The National Road became
US 40, the James River and Kanawha Turnpike became US 60, the
Northwestern Turnpike became US 50, and the Staunton and
Parkersburg Turnpike is now US 250.

March 17, 1858: Birth of U.S.
Senator & journalist William Chilton

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, William E.
Chilton was one of West Virginia's most influential politicians,
lawyers, and journalists. The Chilton family is still closely
associated with the Charleston Gazette. William E. Chilton
was born March 17, 1858, in the Kanawha County town of Coalsmouth,
present-day St. Albans. Shortly after joining the state bar in
1880, Chilton became a protege of John Kenna, who served in both
the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate. Chilton, along with
his law partners William MacCorkle
and brother Joseph E. Chilton, formed the powerful Kanawha Ring,
which controlled local Democratic politics. Chilton served at
various times as Kanawha County's prosecuting attorney, chair of
the Democratic State Executive Committee, and Secretary of State.
He also worked fervently to elect MacCorkle to the Governor's
office in 1892.

In 1907, Chilton acquired the Charleston Gazette and
served as its editor for 15 years before turning it over to his son
William E. Chilton II. In 1911, the West Virginia Legislature
elected Chilton to the U.S. Senate. During his term, the U.S.
Constitution was changed, allowing the public to elect senators
directly and Chilton lost the 1916 election to Republican Howard
Sutherland. Eight years later, he ran for West Virginia's other
Senate seat, but was defeated by Guy D. Goff. The Republican
landslide in 1924 was so overwhelming that Democratic presidential
candidate John W. Davis could not even carry his native state of
West Virginia. In his last attempt at public office, Chilton
finished third in the 1934 U.S. Senate primary, won by Rush D.
Holt.

In retirement, Chilton served as vice president and associate
editor of the Gazette, which he used skillfully to promote
his political views. He died in Charleston in 1939, at the age of
eighty-one.

For Discussion:

Like many newspaper editors past and present, Chilton utilized the
Charleston Gazette to sway the public toward his political
views.

Do you think a U.S. Senator has more influence over public
opinion than a newspaper editor? Why?

Do newspapers have the same influence today as they had in
Chilton's day? If not, why?

Does the media still influence public opinion? How?

Where do people get their information about political issues
and the government? To what extent do you trust the media?

March 18, 1932: Execution of mass
murderer Harry Powers

The story of West Virginia's most famous mass murderer first hit
the local newspapers in Clarksburg in the late summer of 1931. It
didn't take long for the national press to pick up the story and
relate Harry Powers' grisly deeds to a Depression-weary nation.

Powers and his wife ran a grocery store in Clarksburg and lived
south of town in Quiet Dell. When he was arrested, police found
trunks filled with love letters and the personal effects of one of
his victims. They later discovered five corpses, two women and
three children, buried in a drainage ditch beside Powers' garage.
Upon further investigation, police determined Powers had served
time in other states for defrauding widows.

A police investigation found Powers had befriended the two women
under the assumed name of Cornelius Pierson. He first abducted Asta
Eicher and her three children from their home in Park Ridge,
Illinois. Powers reassured suspicious neighbors, telling them the
children were in Europe. Dorothy Lemke of Northboro, Massachusetts,
was Powers' last victim, because police had traced the name
Cornelius Pierson to a Clarksburg post office box.

Interest in Powers' trial was so intense it had to be held in a
specially constructed courtroom at Moore's Opera House in
Clarksburg. Even though Powers maintained his innocence, it took a
jury only two hours to return a guilty verdict. During the trial,
prison guards claimed Powers confessed to the murders as well as
the killing of a salesman with whom he had worked at a Clarksburg
carpet company.

Powers had come to be known nationally as the "Bluebeard of
Quiet Dell." He was hanged on March 18, 1932, at the West Virginia
Penitentiary in Moundsville.

Harry Powers' story was the basis for a classic novel by former
Clarksburg author Davis Grubb. Grubb used the name Harry Powell for
the lead character in his book, Night of the Hunter, set in
Depression-era West Virginia. Like Harry Powers, Grubb's character
played upon the affections of a widow and killed her for money.

March 19, 1925: First state
basketball tournament for black athletes

The 1954 U.S. Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of
Education was the beginning of the end for segregation in
public schools. The decision had a profound effect on school life
from academics to athletics.

For thirty-three years, black students competed in the West
Virginia Athletic Union, whose first basketball tournament began on
March 19, 1925, at West Virginia State College in Institute. Eleven
of West Virginia's 25 black high school basketball teams met in the
inaugural tournament with Lincoln High School of Wheeling defeating
Kimball High School in the finals. A prominent African-American
newspaper, the Pittsburgh Courier, reported the competition
was the first of its kind among black schools in West Virginia and
one of the first ever in the country.

The tournament gained popularity during the 1930s and 1940s when
it was hosted by Institute, Charleston, Bluefield, Clarksburg, and
Northfork. By the late 1950s, the integration orders forced most
black schools to close. In 1957, Bluefield's Park Central High
School hosted the last West Virginia Athletic Union basketball
tournament. Only 12 schools competed. The rest had either been
merged into previously all-white schools or had joined the state
Secondary Schools Activity Commission and played a schedule of
integrated schools. The host team, Park Central, beat the defending
state champion Byrd Prillerman of Raleigh County for the last
Athletic Union title. After the tournament, the Athletic Union
disbanded and the final 12 black schools joined the Secondary
Schools Activity Commission.

By the beginning of the 1966 school year, all of West Virginia's
black public schools had closed and the state's educational system
was completely integrated.

March 20, 1973: Riot at West
Virginia Penitentiary

Three months into Arch Moore's
second term as governor, inmates staged a riot at the West Virginia
Penitentiary in Moundsville. It was one of many riots over the
years blamed on inadequate living conditions and poor treatment of
prisoners.

A helicopter flew over the prison where 200 prisoners held five
guards hostage. One state official said the riot started when an
inmate overpowered guards.

Official: He had a knife on him and when they took him
to the shower why he cut one of the officers slightly, he's not one
of them that's down there by the way. But he was able to overpower
the other two officers and then they had the keys to the hall that
they were confined in and they were able to lock the doors so we
can't get in.

The riot started March 20, 1973. Before it ended, one inmate was
killed and two others seriously wounded. The rioting inmates were
described as the prison's troublemakers.

Official: They do not represent the inmate council.
There is an inmate council at this prison that speaks for the
majority of the inmates in the prison. You have this dissident
group, the troublemakers, and this is the group that's
involved.

Governor Moore joined the negotiations in Moundsville the day
after the riot started. When Moore and other officials agreed to
the inmates' 20 demands, the hostages were set free.

Ten days after the riot, Governor Moore said he would keep his
end of the bargain.

Moore: I expect the inmates of that institution to keep
their end of the bargain and I have no reason to believe that they
won't. As a matter of fact, circumstances are such that they really
don't have much of a choice right at the present time, I should
say. But we're moving fast in our rehabilitation program and
straightening out the problems that were generated by the
riot.

The West Virginia Supreme Court eventually shut down the
penitentiary due to overcrowding. In 1995, a state prison opened at
Mt. Olive in Fayette County.

For Discussion:

There have been numerous riots at the West Virginia Penitentiary,
mostly due to crowded and inadequate conditions.

What factors lead to riots?

What demands do you think the prisoners might have had?

What is the best way for prisoners to express their displeasure
with conditions?

What rights do prisoners have? What type of living conditions
should they expect?

March 23, 1989: Impeachment
proceedings against Treasurer A. James Manchin

The loss of $231 million dollars from the State Consolidated
Investment Fund in 1987 and 1988 spelled trouble for one of West
Virginia's most flamboyant and enduring politicians. State
Treasurer A. James Manchin left office amid charges of
mismanagement.

On March 23, 1989, the House of Delegates voted to bring
impeachment charges against Manchin. The House adopted a 7-page
motion critical of his management practices. Manchin seemed ready
to fight the charges but before the state Senate could hold a
trial, he announced his retirement from 41 years in state politics.
On West Virginia Day, Manchin spoke to reporters inside his Capitol
office while a crowd of supporters spilled out into the
hallway.

Manchin: I have prepared this letter for his
excellency, the Governor of West Virginia, which reads as follows:
Dear Governor Caperton, the time of
my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course and I have kept the faith. Accordingly, I will
enter into retirement on my last day of service as treasurer of the
state of West Virginia at 5 o'clock p.m. on July 9, 1989. I will
seek the strength and guidance of Almighty God as I prepare to
embark upon a new journey and to open new doors of public service
which will enable me to continue loving and serving the people of
this state until they lay me away on top of the hill at my beloved
Farmington. May the bright morning star be a lamp unto our feet and
being with sentiments and respect, I'm your public servant, A.
James Manchin.

A. James Manchin first entered public life in 1948 as a member
of the House of Delegates from Marion County. He helped organize
John F.
Kennedy's 1960 presidential primary campaign in West Virginia
and Kennedy returned the favor by naming Manchin state director of
the Farmers Home Administration. In the 1970s, Manchin gained
national notoriety as the head of the Rehabilitation Environmental
Action Program (REAP), a statewide effort to get rid of junked
cars. He served two terms as secretary of state and was twice
elected state treasurer.

Manchin maintained his innocence regarding the Consolidated
Investment Fund. In 1990, former Associate Treasurer Arnold
Margolin pleaded guilty to two felony charges that he gave false
information to the fund's investors.

March 24, 1917: West Virginia
National Guard on the U.S.-Mexican border

Members of the West Virginia National Guard have been called to
service all over the world. In recent years, state guard units
supported U.S. troops during the Persian Gulf War and in Bosnia.
The West Virginia Guard did the same along the Mexican border just
before the U.S. entered World War I.

Ken Bailey, the author of Mountaineers Are Free: A History of
the West Virginia National Guard, says President Woodrow
Wilson called the guard up for active duty in 1916 because of
political instability in Mexico. The country was in chaos as rebels
like Pancho Villa ruled the countryside.

Bailey: Mexico had gone through a revolution in the
early 1900s and had not regained control of the country. There were
roaming bandit groups that were actually running certain sections
of the country and some of these groups were beginning to spill
over into the United States across the border.

Wilson sent General "Blackjack" Pershing, who would become
famous during World War I, to the Mexican border to restore
order.

Bailey: However, we had very little standing army at
that time. So, in order to get troops for that effort, National
Guards of various states were called into active service and the
West Virginia National Guard was one of those.

Bailey says West Virginia had two regiments when Wilson called
for troops. But, since there was no draft and some of the troops
were physically incapable of the demands of active duty along the
border, there were only enough men to send one regiment.

Bailey: They spent something like 6 to 7 months along
the border doing training -- doing very little other than providing
security for railroads and border crossings, fords on rivers, and
that kind of thing and generally being thoroughly bored and wanting
to come back home. They were typical soldiers who felt that their
time was being wasted.

The West Virginia guardsmen were finally released from service
on March 24, 1917. But, it wasn't long before many were called up
again. Two weeks after they returned to West Virginia, the United
States entered World War I.

For more information:

Bailey, Kenneth R. Mountaineers Are Free: A History of the West
Virginia National Guard. St. Albans: Harless Printing, 1978.

West Virginia's public radio and television stations owe a debt
of gratitude to the vision of one man. Harry Brawley saw radio and
television as vehicles for extending education beyond the
classroom.

Public television station WPBY in Huntington interviewed Brawley
for a documentary of his life and accomplishments called "Making a
Difference." Brawley overcame childhood polio to become the driving
force behind public broadcasting's early days in West Virginia.

Brawley: I wanted to do something to . . . make a
difference. I decided on that early. I couldn't play football. I
couldn't play basketball. But I did want to make a
difference.

Brawley taught in Kanawha County public schools in the 1930s and
1940s, using newsreels and radio broadcasts in the classroom.
Brawley eventually turned toward radio and television and hosted
his own local talk show in Charleston. In 1963, Brawley was
instrumental in persuading lawmakers to create the West Virginia
Educational Broadcasting Authority and served as the EBA's first
executive secretary.

Brawley: I'm proud of the fact that we got at least the
avenues for people to improve themselves -- much more so than ever
. . . the things that're being taught over the air now is
amazing.

When Harry Brawley retired, West Virginia's three public
television stations had begun broadcasting and plans were on the
table for West Virginia Public Radio. An avid historian, he devoted
his retirement years to giving public presentations on Charleston
history. Harry Brawley died at his home in Charleston on March 25,
1992.

March 26, 1863: West Virginia
statehood referendum

Despite opposition from members of his cabinet, President
Abraham
Lincoln, on the last day of 1862, signed the bill allowing the
new state of West Virginia to enter the Union. The bill's original
language had been altered several times. The most dramatic change
was the Willey Amendment, which called for the gradual abolition of
slavery. U.S. Senator Waitman Willey of Morgantown represented the
Restored Government of Virginia, a state government loyal to the
Union, based in Wheeling. To push the statehood bill through
Congress, Willey's amendment granted freedom to all slaves when
they turned twenty-one.

A draft constitution had already been approved by western
Virginians. But the Willey Amendment necessitated another
referendum, which began on March 26, 1863, and lasted for three
days. Lincoln and Restored Government leaders took drastic measures
to ensure victory for statehood. U.S. troops broke up meetings of
forces opposed to the Willey Amendment and intimidated potential
anti- statehood voters. Supporters of the Confederacy, including
those enlisted in the Confederate Army, were prohibited from
voting. By contrast, an extraordinary effort enabled western
Virginians serving in the Union Army to vote. The result was an
overwhelming show of support for statehood -- 28,321 votes in favor
as opposed to only 572 against, with over one-fourth of the votes
cast by Union soldiers.

This was the last major stepping stone for West Virginia
statehood. President Lincoln issued a statehood proclamation on
April 20, state officers were elected on May 28, and West Virginia
entered the Union as the thirty-fifth state on June 20, 1863.

West Virginia's statehood was facilitated by the unique
circumstances of the Civil War.

According to the U.S. Constitution, can part of a state break
away to form a new state? Do you think West Virginia's statehood is
legal? Why? Why not?

Without the involvement of U.S. troops, do you think all of
West Virginia's counties would have approved statehood?

Why did a referendum vote last 3 days?

March 27, 1849: Jefferson County
49ers prospect for gold in California

When news reached the East in 1848 that gold had been discovered
in California, thousands across the nation joined in a mad rush to
strike it rich. Goldfever hit Harpers Ferry, where an expedition
was organized. As many as 800 prospective gold miners followed
former Texas Ranger Colonel Whiting to California. It is not known
whether these miners ever reached their destination.

More is known about a group that left Charles Town on March 27,
1849. Eighty men formed a joint stock company and pooled their
money. The company's constitution prohibited any work on Sunday,
forbade gambling, and discouraged drinking. The company was
governed by a 7-member board of directors, headed by Benjamin
Washington, a great-grandnephew of George Washington.

The prospectors faced all sorts of dangers, including Indian
attacks, along the 2,100-mile journey to California. During a
2-week period, half of the prospectors fell sick and 5 died. When
the company finally made it to Sacramento, its members disbanded
and struck out to search for gold in small parties. For weeks, the
Charles Town press reported the adventures of the Jefferson County
49ers. A few were successful but most failed and returned home.
Some of the prospectors remained in California, including Benjamin
Washington, who became the first editor of the San Francisco
Examiner.

Throughout history, people have risked great danger to prospect for
gold and other riches.

What was the Gold Rush?

Why did people risk their lives to look for gold and settle in
new territories?

Imagine you are travelling west as part of the Gold Rush in
1849. Make a journal of your adventure. What hardships might you
encounter?

March 30, 1865: McNeill's
Rangers' last raid on the B&O

During the Civil War, the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O) Railroad
was a lifeline for Union troops in the South Branch and Shenandoah
valleys. The railroad was used to transport Federal supplies and
troops, which made it a target for Confederate animosity.
Throughout the war, the railroad was plagued by Confederate
raiders, particularly McNeill's Rangers, a band of Rebel
partisans.

McNeill's Rangers were formed in present-day Hardy County in
1862 by John Hanson McNeill. The Rangers wreaked havoc in the South
Branch Valley. B&O machine shops were burned in Piedmont and a
bridge destroyed in Bloomington. In a daring, late-night raid on
Cumberland, Maryland, the Rangers kidnapped Union generals George
Crook and Benjamin Kelley and delivered them to Richmond as war
prisoners.

On March 30, 1865, 30 or 40 Rangers approached the B&O just
east of Patterson's Creek in present-day Mineral County and forced
a group of brakemen to tear up the tracks near a sharp curve. The
engine and 2 cars of an approaching passenger train derailed. The
Rangers boarded the train and quickly stole passengers' watches,
jewelry, and money, and captured 2 Union captains and 2
lieutenants. By the time Federal troops arrived from Patterson's
Creek and Green Springs Run, McNeill's Ranger had escaped, leaving
the railroad in shambles.

The incident at Patterson's Creek was the Rangers' last attack
on the B&O. Eleven days later, Robert E. Lee surrendered at
Appomattox, but McNeill's Rangers refused to accept defeat.
Seventy-five of the Rangers formally surrendered in May 1865, but
some simply returned to their homes and slipped into anonymity.
Decades later, many of McNeill's men finally emerged at Civil War
reunions and took great pride in the fact they had never
surrendered.

March 31, 1887: Life of Daniel
Mayer

On March 31, 1887, Governor E. Willis
Wilson appointed Dr. Daniel Mayer as director of the West
Virginia Hospital for the Insane, which later became Weston State
Hospital. It was one of many honors bestowed upon Mayer, who was
the first Jewish state official and first Jewish member of the West
Virginia Legislature.

He was born in Germany in 1837 and immigrated to the United
States at age 15. In 1859, Mayer earned a medical degree from the
Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati. When the Civil War began two
years later, he moved to Mason County in present-day West Virginia
and raised a Union military company. In August 1861, he resigned as
captain of his company to accept the commission of first lieutenant
and assistant surgeon with the 5th Virginia Infantry, which later
became the Fifth West Virginia regiment. Mayer was honorably
discharged in 1864 and opened a medical practice in Charleston.

Mayer served as the city's health officer and on the city
council. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He
worked as an attorney in Kanawha, Boone, and Logan counties, while
continuing his Charleston medical practice. In 1873, Governor
John Jacob appointed Mayer to succeed
Joseph Diss Debar as the state's second Commissioner of
Immigration. While Mayer served as immigration commissioner, many
European Jews settled in West Virginia, particularly in
Charleston.

After serving as the Director of the Hospital for the Insane and
in the House of Delegates, Mayer was named state surgeon general by
Governor George W. Atkinson. While
in this post, Mayer was appointed by President William
McKinley as U.S. Consul to Argentina. He and McKinley had
become friends when the two fought in West Virginia during the
Civil War. Mayer retired in 1905 and moved to Cincinnati, where he
died in 1910.

For Discussion:

Daniel Mayer realized the dream of many immigrants to the United
States, becoming a successful doctor, lawyer, and politician.

What was the role of the immigration commissioner?

How might his own experiences as an immigrant have helped Mayer
as immigration commissioner?

How was it possible for Mayer to be both a physician and a
lawyer? What type of education did Mayer have? Was this common for
most lawyers in the 1800s?